Did Ready At Dawn Flee VGX Like A Rat From A Sinking Ship?

In the eyes of fans and industry pundits alike, VGX was like watching someone pissing directly into the wind. It appeared as if the hosts didn’t even want to be there, the world premiere footage was lackluster, and the production value was horse shit.

Earlier this week it was revealed that Ready At Dawn‘s new footage of The Order: 1886 wasn’t going to be ready in time for the show. And it was probably for the best. In all likelihood the trailer could have saved the show, but if the other gameplay reveals were any indication, we would have been treated to about a minute of footage. In the end being a part of VGX could have caused the title more pain than pleasure.

The reality of the situation is that large publishers didn’t see the value of showing much of anything during VGX. EA limited Respawn Entertainment to revealing a new class of Titan. Activision offered a two-minute montage of Destiny, but nothing new was shown. Fledgling publisher Square Enix gave us the most content with their narrative-centric Thief trailer. As you may expect, the result was less than Earth shattering.

The most telling of omissions came by way of Sony Worldwide Studios. Naughty Dog has fancied making large announcements at VGA events over the years, but were absent from VGX. The fact that The Order: 1886’s new footage failed to leave the “cutting room floor” doesn’t sit right with me. If this is what we’re to expect from the studio, then what will their final product look like? It’s the same as wondering what a fighter’s performance would have been like when they didn’t make-weight for a prize-fight.

I’m not having it, I think there may have been a simpler motivation behind “missing out” on VGX. Sony may have taken a brief look at the finalized content schedule and decided revealing something more substantial on their own would make more sense. I can honestly say that most of the premiere footage should have simply been an update from the respective dev instead of being presented on the pedestal it was. Sony themselves may have agreed with that semantic.

Now I’m not saying I have an inside track. this is simply a hypothesis, I just think it’s strange that a publicized game reveal wasn’t finished in time to actually be shown. If we all thought the show was tedious and boring, why would Sony have wanted one of PlayStation’s upcoming flagship titles a part of it?

Dylan splits time between games journalism, designing video games, and playing them. Outside of his deep involvement in the games industry, he enjoys It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Shameless, A Song of Ice and Fire, fitness, and family.